Picking up the Pieces
by Fawlke
Summary: Missing scene from Star Trek: Into Darkness. After Spock and Khan's epic fight. Spock should really get his injuries seen to. Not Slash. Now with fluff ending. 1st in the Where Do We Go From Here series
1. Chapter 1

**Picking up the Pieces**

**Authors note: **So I was watching the fight scene at the end of Into Darkness the other day and thought 'wow Spock has taken a beating' so that in my mind took to mean an excellent opportunity for some Hurt/Comfort fic. I've been reading a lot of fics by a wonderful Author KCS so I believe she may have influenced my writing a little (though nowhere near as good obviously)

**Summary: **Missing scene after Spock and Khan's epic fight. Spock should really get his injuries seen to.

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"He's our only chance to save Kirk" these words broke through the haze of blinding rage coursing through Spock's system, he looked to Uhura's tear stained face seeing the truth as she stared at him.

He put all of his strength into one final blow to send Khan into unconsciousness.

Spock looked down at the man under him, breathing heavily to gain control of his emotions, he could already feel pain from numerous places in his body, clamouring for his attention but now was not the time, he needed to return Khan to the ship as soon as possible.

McCoy paced frantically in sick bay "they should have got him by now", he slapped the communications control on his desk to message the bridge "Any news yet?"

Chekov's voice came through "ve have re-established communication viz zhem, ve are just vaiting for co-ordinates…" Chekov checked his panel his face lighting up "Got zhem, 3 life signs locked and ready for transport"

McCoy let out a breath of relief "3…Tell them to get their asses down here as soon as…" he was interrupted by the med bay doors opening and Spock striding in with Khan slung over his shoulder, Uhura followed meekly behind. Spock paused a few paces in, startled by the silence and attention at his arrival. He glanced around then headed to the nearest biobed. "Doctor I believe you were in need of this" Spock carelessly slung Khan down onto the bed with a lot more force than necessary judging from the loud thump as the body hit, the bed gave a few warning noises as if the sensors were upset at being subjected to such treatment. McCoy rushed over "Careful I need him al…Jeeze Spock" McCoy was looking horrified at him.

Now Khan's body was no longer blocking Spock's face from view McCoy could see the damage, Spock's right cheek was slightly swollen with an impressive green bruise beginning to mottle his eye socket, and there was a small trickle of blood from a cut on the bridge of his nose.

McCoy could also see he was holding his right arm close to his body as if protecting his ribs, the wrist of his left arm looking swollen as well.

Spock broke him out of his impromptu diagnosis "Doctor your time would be better spent working on Khan, I would request you keep him sedated as I am unsure I will be able to stop him again"

McCoy started "Right um…" he turned grabbing a medical tricorder from the nearby table, he pointed to the nearby medical staff "Rhodes, M'Benga start getting the samples we need, prep him but for god's sake keep him unconscious" He turned back to where Spock had been, ready to scan him but Spock was gone. "Where..?" he went towards the doors ready to drag Spock back if necessary but was interrupted by Nurse Rhodes "Doctor we need you for this" He let out a sigh, if Spock was walking round then he couldn't be that bad, Jim was more important at the moment, but the minute he was through he was gonna storm up to the bridge and drag Spock back by his pointed ears if he had to.

Spock turned while the doctor was giving orders, suppressing a wince as his ankle nearly collapsed under him, he left sick bay heading to the bridge.

Uhura ran after him, "Spock don't you think you should…"

Spock interrupted her but did not break his stride to the turbo lift "I have no wish to discuss the matter; the doctor is in the place he is needed most at present."

"Spock" she grabbed hold of his left arm turning him to face her, as he did she noticed a flicker of pain as he turned to face her "You need to be checked out"

He tilted his head slightly and she saw a blank mask fall into place hiding his emotions from her "I am functioning within tolerable parameters" he pulled his arm away and entered the lift not waiting for her to follow.

The bridge staff were still waiting for news when the turbo lift doors opened allowing Commander Spock back onto the bridge, Sulu winced at him as he noticed the bruising and slight limp that affected his usually graceful gait.

He traded a look with Chekov, "Are you alright Commander?"

Spock had paused by the Captain's Chair staring at the seat as if he could see someone sitting there, he didn't seem to have heard him. The lift doors opened allowing Uhura out she froze as if unsure whether to go to the Commander or resume her post.

Sulu tried again "Commander?"

Spock lifted his head as if coming out of a trance and glanced briefly around the bridge before straightening and sitting carefully in the command chair. "Lieutenant Uhura, contact Starfleet Command and inform them of all that has transpired I will send them a full report in due time. Lieutenant Sulu if you would move us to a safer area while we await further orders." He shifted in the chair and let out a small sound which judging from the wince that accompanied it, was pain.

Sulu turned back to his console, "Aye sir"

Chekov shared a worried look with Uhura, "Commander, are you sure you are feeling…" Spock looked at him sharply which stopped his question dead. "I am functioning adequately Ensign" Chekov quickly turned back to his console trading a brief wide eyed look with Sulu, the Commander had never snapped at him before.

McCoy stared up at the bio monitor above Kirk's bed, "C'mon kid", brain functions were still active thanks to the cryo tube but he was now waiting for any sign that the serum he had created was working, the monitor gave a small beep…there a small flutter from the pulse monitor. Yes there it was again, he smiled it wasn't a complete recovery, Kirk would probably need a few days for that and providing they kept pumping the irradiated blood out of him then Khan's blood seemed to be doing its best to repair and replace what was being removed, he really needed to get him transferred to a Starfleet facility where they could monitor him without fear of any of the ships systems failing. He let out a breath turning to Rhodes, "Keep monitoring him I want to know the second something changes" he picked up a medical tricorder and headed for the doors. Rhodes looked at him from the monitor "Where are you going Doctor?"

"I'm making a house call" he called out as the doors closed behind him.

It had been a few hours since Spock had arrived on the bridge, since then there had been a gloomy silence, no-one dared to interrupt or talk as they usually did, everyone who looked over to the command chair noticed how Spock was leaning over to the right in the chair, so different to his normal upright, proud posture. His head had dipped slightly his eyes blinking lethargically. He was also breathing in small gasps not full breaths.

McCoy entered the bridge, disturbing the atmosphere. "You'll be pleased to know it seems to be working, I've got a slow pulse rate back which is a good sign but he's not out of the woods yet". He noted the smiles that this produced breaking through the cold atmosphere, one face however had not turned to him. Spock was still staring at the floor in front of him almost trance like, McCoy moved towards him "Spock?" Spock started wincing as he did "Doctor, do you have any news?" McCoy took note that the bruising and swelling on his face was more pronounced now. "Well, I've done everything I can it's up to him now. But as he's as stubborn as you are he should be fine." Spock didn't even acknowledge the insult "Doctor it would be more productive for you to…" McCoy interrupted "Oh no, I let you walk out on me once I know for a fact you need medical treatment just by looking at you, not to mention I had to treat some of the injuries on Khan to get him stable enough for the transfusion. He had both defensive and offensive wounds on him so don't tell me he didn't give as good as he got".

Spock closed his eyes letting out a breath of air "Doctor I…"

McCoy interrupted him again scowling in frustration "You want me to do this here? Fine". He opened the tricorder and began scanning his eyes widening at the list of injuries. "Jeez, how are you still conscious let alone sitting there?!"

The bridge staff dropped all pretence of not listening and turned to look at them.

Spock blinked, regaining his composure "Doctor I can assure you I am…"

McCoy cut him off "Hairline fractures to both sides of your skull which has caused your brain to swell slightly, must be giving you one hell of a headache. Broken ocular bone. Your left wrist is badly twisted and two fingers are cracked. There's a hairline crack in your sternum and I know you are taking shallow breaths cause 2 ribs are broken on the right hand side, your right ankle is shattered, what did you do Jump off a building? I'm impressed you could walk on the dam thing not to mention the fact you carried Khan into sickbay on it, let's add to this that your heart rate is through the roof cause of the amount of pain you're trying to control."

Spock looked up at him though kept his head bowed "it was not a building, I did not judge the distance correctly when traversing the difference between two moving vehicles"

McCoy sighed in frustration opening his mouth to retaliate then noted the silence as everyone had turned to look at them in horror, he straightened realising that it had been unprofessional to read Spock's injuries out on the bridge, "As you were" he called out loudly and they all turned quickly back to their consoles, Uhura stayed looking at them though, a tear making its way down her cheek.

McCoy lent forward to speak to Spock quietly "Either you can come with me to Sickbay or I relieve you of duty and drag you there myself, either way you end up on a biobed." Spock looked up at him "You make a most persuasive argument Doctor" McCoy smiled slightly "Glad you see things my way"

Spock tried to push himself from the chair but stopped letting out a small groan of pain. McCoy instantly dropped the tricorder he was holding to carefully grab Spock and help him out of the chair draping Spock's left arm gently over his shoulder. "C'mon you damn Masochist." He helped Spock limp down from the chair and paused as Spock turned to Sulu, "Lieutenant Sulu, you have the bridge"

Sulu smiled at them "Aye Sir."

They limped a little further towards the lift before Sulu's voice came again. "Commander," McCoy released his hold slightly so Spock could turn his head to see Sulu over their shoulders "I think I speak for us all when I say, Thank You"

Spock felt a wave of affection push against his pain decreased mental shields from the entire bridge crew. He nodded his head in acceptance and allowed McCoy to help him from the bridge.

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A.N: That's all folks; I may expand on this if to show Kirk finding out how injured Spock was while stopping Khan, that is if anyone wants it.


	2. Chapter 2

As it was requested so nicely I thought I would quickly bang this out for you.

Reviews give me mucho joy (seriously I sat like Gollum with my phone constantly refreshing the page, my husband began to give me strange looks)

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Kirk sat back on the sofa of his small apartment rubbing his eyes as he finished signing off on another repair estimate for the Enterprise. He winced rubbing the back of his neck and threw the pad down onto the coffee table in front of him, it hit two others scattering the pile further.

He sighed as a slight throbbing in his temples made itself known; he'd promised Bones that he would do no work at all if he was finally released from the medical facility, he glanced guiltily at the pile of pads...he wasn't in uniform, that had to count for something, right? He looked down at the grey tracksuit bottoms and Starfleet Academy t-shirt he was currently sporting for his 'quiet night in'. He sighed laying his head on the back of the sofa, his head giving another disapproving throb at the change in angle. He should be over this by now, he'd spent two weeks unconscious and a further week confined to the bed before Bones had even entertained the notion of releasing him. Kirk had begged resorting to looking as pathetic as possible before the doctor had finally relented and sent him back to his apartment for recuperation, signed off on sick leave. He eyed the bottle of red pills sitting innocently on the edge of the table that Bones had prescribed, he didn't like them they made his head go all fuzzy, like he'd been drinking with none of the fun. Bones had commented this morning on another one of his impromptu visits "Y'know your supposed to take them not use them for decoration".

He shifted and decided to finally give in, he grabbed one pill from the bottle, got himself a glass of water and headed to the balcony doors. He breathed deeply as he surveyed the bay in front of him and downed the pill and water. In the distance he could just make out the shuttle crafts and construction vehicles removing sections of the USS Vengeance from the city. It had been over 3 weeks and it still looked a mess, he sighed, they'd cut it very close this time but since when had anything been easy. He blinked at the maudlin thoughts and recognised the fuzziness, the pill had started to kick in. Maybe one more report then bed, he re-entered checking the clock on the wall, 8:27pm wow, the great James T Kirk thinking of being in bed before 9:00pm, he was a real party animal.

He flopped down on the sofa and grabbed a report pad at random, then quickly threw it back down, Montgomery Scott was a fantastic engineer but his report writing skills left a lot to be desired. They were always twice the length they needed to be as he went off on random tangents and included way more detail than necessary, he'd look at that one tomorrow, he put it to the bottom of the pile. He sifted through, he was sure he'd seen one with Bones' name on, McCoy hated writing reports as much as he did so they were always straight to the point with only the basic information needed (unless he was bragging about some cure only he had been able to synthesise, at that point Kirk delegated the report to Spock for translation)

He located the pad and began scanning through, initialling the bottom of each page as it listed equipment used in the last mission, suggestions for replacements, recommendations and finally the part Kirk was dreading...injuries. He sighed; he'd already had to write the condolence messages to the families of the crew that had been lost. He got to the end of the report and noted with a small amount of vindictive pleasure the injuries that McCoy had treated on Khan before he was stable enough for the blood transfusion that had saved Kirk's life. He scrolled further and stopped as Spock's name was listed, when did that happen? Kirk was sure he been fine when he was kneeling outside the core (though his memories were a little hazy) in the hospital Spock was fine. He scrolled back up to Khan's injuries then back down, they corresponded..."Son of a" he threw the pad down and stormed from the apartment.

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I know, I'm sorry, please don't kill me for stopping there but I thought I'd at least give you a little taster.


	3. Chapter 3

Finally complete, this is it now promise. (That said if anyone wants to PM me ideas for missing scenes, I'll give it a go, if you like my writing style)

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Spock lethargically opened his eyes and blinked, feeling his heart rate and biological functions increasing after meditation. He looked at the small incense burner on the floor in front of him, it had burnt out long ago but the scent still hung pleasantly in the air. He looked up from the small meditation mat he was sitting cross legged on to look out of the window before him, he could see the twinkling stars over the skyline of the city. It wasn't important where he meditated really but he always felt better when he could see the stars, it reminded him of being aboard the Enterprise.

He rose bringing the burner with him and carefully set it on the side nearest to him suddenly interrupted by a loud pounding on the apartment's front door. "Spock, SPOCK, I know you're in there, answer me" more pounding "lemmie in already"

He moved swiftly to answer the door before the Captain decided to just break it down.

Spock opened it just as Kirk was about to pound on the door again so ended up face to fist, luckily he managed to stop before he actually caught Spock. "Captain" Spock greeted. Kirk thrust a finger into his face "Don't you 'Captain' me, I read the report". Spock opened his mouth to reply, then closed it as he turned to look down the hallway, they were being observed by three other residents who were hanging out of their apartment doorways shamelessly watching with interest. Spock raised his eyebrow and gave them the coldest glare he could, they quickly disappeared back into their dwellings.

"Y'know that look is kinda awesome when it's not directed at me" Kirk swayed in front of him and Spock noted his eyes looked glazed. Spock wordlessly stepped back allowing Kirk to enter the apartment, Spock took another look down the hallway before closing the door and following him inside.

The Captain had stopped in the middle of the room, looking round in confusion as if he had forgotten why he was there. "Captain, are you inebriated?"

Kirk turned to him with a "Whuh?" he scrunched his face up "No, it's Bones' stupid pills they make me go all…" he vaguely gestured to his head obviously thinking this explained everything.

He dropped his hand looking straight at Spock "I read the report" Spock raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner "To which report are you referring?" Kirk huffed at him "Which report, Bone's report"

Spock nodded "ah, I often find myself in a similar state after reviewing the Doctor's reports"

This seemed to derail Kirk "Did you just make a joke?" He waved his hand dismissively "Stop trying to distract me, I read Bones' injury report, why didn't you tell me?"

Spock nodded as comprehension dawned "I did not deem it important enough to bother you with that information during your recovery." Kirk instantly picked up on the phrasing "So you were going to tell me"

Spock did not answer, the silence telling enough.

Kirk let out a frustrated sigh and stepped into the Vulcan's personal space "You could've died, I thought when you said you'd caught him that you'd taken a security team or something, not that'd you'd gone on a one man crusade to get him". Spock was not looking at him "After everything I did" the 'to save you' was unspoken but implied "you would just throw that away on a chance it could save me"

"Negative" Kirk felt a cold sickening feeling in his stomach "I did not have the knowledge at the time that Khan's blood could save your life" Kirk swallowed looking down "So you…what…just went after him to arrest him?"

Spock tilted his head taking in the Captain's hurt expression and realizing how his answer had sounded re-iterated softly "Negative…I wanted to kill him" Kirk looked up in shock at the admission, Spock allowed some of the despair he had felt at the time to show through his eyes and Kirk realized just how deeply Spock had been affected by his death. He had to look away though Spock was still gazing at him.

Kirk scratched the back of his neck "well…thanks" it was an absurd thing to say, it suddenly wasn't enough and he was unsure if he was being affected by the emotions floating round or the little red pill he'd got from Bones but he suddenly found himself stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Spock's shoulders, resting his chin on the Vulcan's shoulder as he squeezed tightly. Kirk smiled as Spock went rigid in his arms, he released his grip slightly but left his chin where it was "Are you gonna neck pinch me?" Spock lost some of the tension in his shoulders "I am undecided"

Kirk snorted, Spock couldn't be that upset by the contact if he was allowing it to continue "Y'know the quickest way to get me to let go would be to hug me back" he was pushing his luck now. He felt the body in front of him give a very un-Vulcan sigh and then Spock's arms came up to rest below his shoulder blades, he patted awkwardly twice before dropping them back to his sides. Kirk released him stepping back sheepishly and looked up to see fond amusement looking back at him. Kirk scratched the back of his neck "So…I'm gonna" he gestured with his thumb to the front door.

"You need not leave, I was about to make some tea before your arrival, you may join me if you wish"

Kirk nodded "That sounds good" Spock gestured towards the sofa and headed for the small kitchenette.

Kirk settled himself down slumping back into the cushions and listening to the soft clinking sounds as Spock made tea. He noticed a chess set on the coffee table and lent forward snagging the white king, he lent back rolling it in his fingers then blinked as a cup appeared in front of him. "Do you play?"

Kirk blinked "huh?" Spock gestured to the King in his hand as Kirk took the cup. "Oh, nah…well not for a long time, I played a little at the Academy" At Spock's questioning look he explained while replacing the king on the board in front of him "There was a Bajoran in the Chess Club, she had this whole uptight hot librarian thing going on…" at Spock's raised eyebrows, he waved his hand dismissively "Never mind"

Spock tilted his head "Would you care to play? You seem to have picked a side already"

"Sure" he haphazardly picked a pawn at random and shoved it forward 2 spaces.

Spock responded quickly though by the 7 minute mark it was obvious the Captain had no strategic plan he was just placing the pieces randomly. Spock took the white queen with his bishop and looked up to see Kirk blinking sleepily slumping sideways on the cushions, cup of half-drunk tea threatening to spill.

Kirk felt the cup carefully removed from his fingers then gentle hands guiding him to lie-down, his head coming to rest on a pillow. His shoes were removed and he wiggled his toes into the fabric of the sofa. Something soft was drawn over him, he blinked reaching out to grasp the wrist of the hand that was tucking him in "Thansspock" he sent all the affection he could, hoping the touch telepath would pick up on it. Cool fingers gently tucked the hand back under the blanket as he heard a low "the sentiment is more than returned, Jim"

As the last fleeting glimpse of consciousness left him he thought that while they may not have the same level of epic friendship Old Spock had implied, they were definitely getting there.


End file.
